Carer admits taking patient’s grant

The health ombudsman wants an Eastern Cape social worker to be criminally charged for collecting a mentally ill patient’s grant money and failing to disclose this.

This is one of the findings contained in Professor Malegapuru Makgoba’s 65-page report into allegations of patient rights violations at the Tower psychiatric hospital and psychosocial rehabilitation centre in Fort Beaufort.

The Tower employee admitted she illegally accessed the patient’s Sassa (social security agency) income. “[She] should be held liable using the disciplinary code and procedure for a criminal prosecution for theft,” said Makgoba.

The violation was brought to the attention of the ombudsman by a report in March published in the Afrikaans weekly paper, Rapport painting a picture of systemic human rights violations at the hospital.

The paper interviewed the whistle-blower, a former Tower psychiatrist, Dr Kiran Sukeri.

But the ombudsman said even though he found system failures at hospital, there was no prima facie evidence of institutionalised, systemic or deliberate violation of human rights.

However, the ombud reported that:

• Food was prepared in a kitchen of poor quality;
• The vacancy rate was at 53% when the ombud visited; and
• The provincial health department was failing to provide leadership and guidance about violation of human rights in the seclusion room.

The ombudsman now wants Dr Sukeri to be reported to the Health Professionals Council of SA “for serious professional misconduct and violations of codes of health practice identified in the report”.

These include violating confidentiality of patients and by so doing, their dignity; violating a confidentiality clause signed in his contracts, and failing in his duty of care as a professional.

Sukeri could not be reached for comment at the time of writing.